SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A YouTube video of a community college police officer who drew his gun on a San Diego man carrying a camera Wednesday is going viral. The video shows the Mesa College police officer getting out of his car and asking Chris, the man with two cameras, what he was filming. Chris, who did not want to provide his last name, refused to put down the GoPro camera. Within seconds, the officer took his weapon out of the holster. The officer did not put his gun back in the holster until a second officer arrived. Chris is the founder of California Citizens Watch, a group that audits government entities. He told 10News reporter Allison Ash he was not trying to provoke the officer into pulling his gun. Watch the confrontation: 10News spoke with former El Cajon police officer Kevin LaChapelle who said he believes Chris was definitely out for a confrontation. However, LaChapelle also said the Mesa College officer messed up by pulling his weapon. Mesa College released a statement which read:
Video has circulated of an incident involving a San Diego Community College District Police Officer which took place during a traffic stop near San Diego Mesa College on May 16. The officer involved has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation. The San Diego Community College District takes any incident like this very seriously. We will not comment on the incident until that internal investigation is concluded.